Salaries of digital talents could rise 10-15% when switching jobs in industries: report

Financial services, e-commerce, and telcos emerge as top industries to be dominated by digital talents.

Talents in digital could expect salary increases of 10-15% when switching jobs of similar industries, a salary report by employment agency Michael Page revealed.

According to the agency, this has been spurred by a shortage of skills for roles in AI, machine learning, data science UI/UX and digital transformation. The fields of financial services, e-commerce, and telecommunications are top industries to be dominated by digital.

Top digital roles in demand include performance marketing managers, digital analytics manager, and CRM manager.

Meanwhile, there has been a 5% increase in the demand for talent in financial services over the last 12 months, as there has been a “talent squeeze” brought about by higher demand for quantitative traders.

Talents equipped with expertise in Robotic Process Automation (RPA) and software application systems are the most sought after. The roles that are most in demand include VC investment professional, cybersecurity expert, and compliance managers.

Demand for talents in health sciences, on the other hand, has increased 22% in the past year, and pharmaceuticals manufacturing roles are still sought after. Michael Page noted that there is an increased investment in headcount for commercial sales and marketing roles.

Top roles include regulatory affairs director or manager and commercial sales or excellence manager.

Michael Page noted that hiring in Singapore is likely to remain stable this year, despite government projections that suggest a slight drop in growth. “This is mostly due to both large businesses and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) also showing a renewed confidence for positive growth and expansion in Singapore,” it said.

“Despite renewed business confidence and investments in R&D, talent acquisition leaders continue to have a hard time finding and retaining quality talent, which has fuelled the dramatic increase in contracting roles. Singapore’s future lies in innovation and highly skilled talent, and this trend is something we will continue to witness across industries, including functions that have not typically subscribed to contracting strategies,” said Nilay Khandelwal, managing director, Michael Page Singapore.